In diagnostic (clinical) microbiology, on-going research projects are focused on the activities of new antibiotics against clinically encountered aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, and free-living amoebae, and the emergence of resistance to antimicrobics that we are now encountering in Enterococcus species, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and in anaerobes. Our laboratory also has a major interest in rapid diagnostic methods, and in developing and evaluating new or improved methods for diagnosing infections caused by anaerobic and non-anaerobic enteric bacteria.

Roles of free-living amoebae and anaerobic bacteria in diseases: In the Amoeba Research Laboratory, currently we are studying certain small, soil and water, free-living amoebae (e.g., Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria spp., and others); we are studying the epidemiologic, clinical, pathologic, and laboratory diagnostic features of amoebic infections. In the Anaerobe Laboratory, we are studying the roles of certain anaerobes (including Clostridium septicum, C. difficile, and C. perfringens) in intestinal diseases, and we are especially interested in mechanisms of pathogenesis of diseases caused by the clostridia.

We are highly interested in the growth of, and in limiting factors that influence the growth of, mixed populations of microorganisms (e.g., Acanthamoeba spp. with bacteria in amoebic keratitis, or with Legionella spp. in Legionnaires' Disease). Last but not least, we are especially interested in the fatty acid and steroid metabolism of intestinal microorganisms, the effects of fatty acids and biliary steroids on host cells and tissues, and how the indigenous microbiota is influenced by diet, and how diet and metabolic products of the intestinal microbiota could play a role in the pathogenesis of certain neoplasms (e.g., breast cancer; colorectal cancer).